A Hogwarts Murder Mystery (rewrite)
by marketflush
Summary: Elizabeth Leoncourt is a sixth year at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardy. She's best friends with Al and Rose and they're determined to make this year memorable. But a string of murders has turned this year upside down. Families of known Death Eaters from the wizarding war are being picked off and it seems that not even Harry Potter himself can stop it.
1. Chapter 1

Chapter One

Footsteps echoed through the empty hall as Elizabeth ascended the staircase, a pile of books under her arm. She reached the third floor and pushed the pile of junk boxes to the side, stepping over Nana Nutenheim's sleeping cat, Child, and continued up. She could hear Hilde and her group talking amongst themselves on the next floor. She ducked her head and dug in her pockets for her flat key.

"...I made the deal. Good deal I think. Ain't nuffin' wrong wiff it, just gotta run a few things for Carter. S'like we're the new Bonnie and Clyde, y'know?"

They were gathered a few doors down from her place and fell silent when they saw her come up the stairs. At Hilde's signal they all dispersed, her included. She headed towards her own place, a few doors down from Elizabeth. She lived in the smallest flat on the floor with her older brother, who also happened to be a dealer. Funky smells were always wafting from their door and the wallpaper around it was peeling more than everywhere else. As Hilde passed her by she smiled deviously and watched Elizabeth twist her key before disappearing. Elizabeth quickly pushed into her own flat and locked the door behind her, her wand itching in her boot. She still recalled Hilde's offer.

When she was safely locked behind her door, she let out a deep sigh and set down her pile of books on the wobbly entrance table and removed her coat. All of the lights were out except for in the kitchen, where some leftovers had been set on the counter for her. She ran her hands through her long hair and took a seat on one of the stools.

"You know, I didn't think you'd get here until tomorrow," she said when she felt him staring at her from the safety of the dark living room. She smiled a little and broke the yoke of her fried egg. "Sitting in the dark is a little weird, you know?"

Behind her she heard him stand and make his way up to her. She stood and they exchanged a hug before they both sat back down. "I didn't want to leave the light on. Your mum and Madison went to bed a little bit ago and I wanted to wait up for you."

She scraped some of the egg yolk off the plate with her toast. "Why are you here so early anyways?"

"Madison invited me," he shrugged. "Said she wanted to talk to me about magic before you 'stole me again for another year'." He smiled a little to himself.

Elizabeth gave him a look but he wasn't paying attention. She finished her meager meal and set about washing her dishes. "When did you get here?"

"Around noon." He eyed her as she washed her dishes without magic. "I was going to take your mum and Madison out for lunch but your mum insisted on staying here, so Madison and I went instead. We were going to stop by the bookstore to say hi, but we lost track of time and Madison had to pick up the kids from school or something like that. Said she got paid to watch them for a few hours. She only got home an hour or two before you."

"Where'd you take her?"

"That little cafe you two are always talking about." He waved his hand. "Good food I suppose. But it was strange to be around all these muggles. Dad says it's good for me to see what it's like out here. Personally I think it's a little strange. Fascinating and all, but strange."

She laughed and turned to look at him. "You know I've missed you James."

He smiled. "Of course you have. I'm a delight."

"And so humble too."

His smile only grew wider as he tipped his eyebrow at her. "I've missed you too." He adjusted himself on the chair and crossed his arms. "So tell me, how's life been this summer?"

"Quite good really," she said resting her elbows against the counter. "Mum got a pay raise at the call centre so we got a bit of a break this summer. Madison started up with her babysitting job too. As for me, I've been picking up some extra time at the bookstore now that Mrs. Albrich's husband is out of the hospital. I've saved quite a lot of money up this year. I'm really excited to go to Diagon Alley."

"I would hope so. George really wants to see you. And the whole gang is coming out this year too. Bill and Fleur are bringing Dominique and Louis. Victoire and Teddy will be making an appearance as well which certainly makes things fun," he said with a twinkle in his eyes.

A smile graced her face and she closed her eyes. "I've missed them. Have they decided to get married yet? Or are they still procrastinating?"

"Procrastinating," he laughed. "But I expect it'll happen soon."

"Hmm," she murmured as she stretched her arms up and yawned. "I'd really like to talk more James but I'm so tired. I really need to get to bed if I'm going to wake up early tomorrow and pack."

He nodded his head happily at her. "You go ahead Elizabeth. Madison set me up a bed out here on the couch so don't worry about me. You get some sleep."

"Thanks."

She made her way to the room she shared with Madison and changed into some clean pajamas. She set her wand on her bedside table and climbed under the covers, falling quickly into a deep, dream-filled sleep.

* * *

_A/N: So this is the very first chapter of my Hogwarts Murder Mystery rewrite. I'm keeping the original story posted as well, but will probably take it down once I've caught up with the original story line. For those of you who have read the original some things will probably change in this storyline (and hopefully the writing is a little better, I'm working more on my showing not telling). I'm not sure how often I will be able to update this story since I am a full time student and work full time as well, but my personal goal is to complete this part of the story by the end of the summer. Ideally I'd like to update once a week, though I'll probably start by posting a few chapters at a time just to get it out there so people read it. Please take the time to leave a review if you like it and give me any feedback you think is appropriate. Thanks for reading!_

_\- Chumett_


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter Two

When Elizabeth's eyes opened again all she could see was the red flashing light of her alarm clock. It took her a moment to get into focus before she could read it. 6:33 AM. She sat up and stretched her arms high into the air, letting out a deep groan. Waking up was, perhaps, her least favorite part of the day.

Out in the living room she could hear three voices. She got up and made her bed before heading into the bathroom to brush her teeth, then out join the rest of them.

"I'm surprised you're up so early," she laughed when she saw the dark circles under James' eyes and the curious way he was slumped over on the lumpy old couch with the blanket still draped over his legs. When he looked up at her she could see that he had gotten a terrible night sleep. Her cheeks burned red.

He smiled assuringly up at her. "What can I say? You've inspired me to become an early riser."

"Hmm," she murmured rocking back on her heels. "What's for breakfast?"

When she came upon her mum and Madison in the kitchen she saw that they were frying up the last of their breakfast food. But her mum was smiling and asked her to start some coffee for the lot of them. James sauntered over and took a seat on a stool and offered his assistance but all three of them shut him down.

Her mum laid out their meal on the counter. It wasn't much—a few pieces of toast, a few scrapes of jam, and what little sausage we had left—but it was all that they had and James knew that. It made her sick that he knew that. But he did. So he just smiled and thanked them and took some. Mum didn't have time to eat with them for long, so she wrapped herself up a few pieces of sausage and gave James a big hug, thanking him for coming to get Elizabeth again. She kissed Madison and her on the cheek and squeezed her arm, giving her a mum look. "Be good this year and write me every week. I want to hear all about the shenanigans you get into." She paused and pursed her lips. "That's not something a mother should say." She waggled her finger playfully at her. "Elizabeth Lana Leoncourt you stay out of detention and you keep those marks high or we'll be having a long talk when you come home!" She gave her a wink and then another hug before tossing her coat on and heading out the door.

Madison and Elizabeth did the dishes once they were all finished.

"Would you like some help?" James asked, squeezing in between the two of them. She went to protest but he wasn't holding a wand. "You know this is terribly tedious. I really don't know how muggles do this every single day."

"It's not that bad," she shrugged, squirting some soap on his plate for him.

"Magic makes it a bit more interesting though. I'd do it if I had magic," Madison sighed as she dried the dishes they handed to her.

James laughed a little. "You don't need magic to make things interesting. Things can be perfectly interesting in other ways."

"Sure," she said absently.

He gave Elizabeth a questioning look but she just shrugged.

They finished the work and she went off to pack her things. Her old robes were hung up in the closet. She remembered Madison trying them on and taking a stick, running around the flat and pretending to cast magic spells. She couldn't help but smile as she packed them away. She would certainly miss being here with her. There were years where she wanted to sneak her in her trunk and bring her along. She would certainly love the idea. But she had another life here, just as Elizabeth had another life at Hogwarts. She knew Madison was jealous of that life and she knew that she wanted with all her heart to be a witch just like her. Sometimes it made her feel guilty, leaving her and mum like that.

She finished packing and changed into some jeans and a sweatshirt. Back in the living room James was sitting on the couch alone while Madison got ready for her day. She was supposed to be going to school shopping with one of her friends.

"Before you go I need to give you something!" she called out at her.

She took a seat next to James and sighed. "I'm going to miss them."

"Of course you are," he said putting his arm around her shoulders. "You always do."

"Do you think it's fair of me?" she asked quietly. "You know, to leave them like this?"

He made a soft humming sound before turning to look at her with that big brother expression he always had. "Life isn't fair, Elizabeth. But you do your best to make it fair and they know that. You can't just ignore what you are for their sake. It would hurt them more than you going out and learning to be the best witch you can be. I think they're proud of you. I think you should be proud of yourself."

She nodded absently. He was right of course. This was the right decision. But it was also a very hard decision to make every year. Sometimes she wanted to drop out of Hogwarts and go back to muggle school, if only to be closer to Madison and home. But if she did that she wouldn't have nearly as many opportunities as she would in the Wizarding World. At least there she could make the money she needed to give them a comfortable life.

Madison came rushing out with her hands behind her back. "Okay, okay, I know you always say no presents but I really want you to have this. It means a lot to me and it'll make me feel better knowing that you have it. So please don't freak out and don't open it until you get to the Potter's house." She gave Elizabeth a kiss on the cheek and thrust the present into her hands before throwing her arms around James and making a hasty departure.

Elizabeth eyed the brown paper wrapping and weighed the object in her hands. It wasn't particularly heavy, but that didn't really mean anything in terms of price. She smiled a little to herself.

"We should get going," James said standing up. "Molly will want to see you."

"Let me just grab my things."

When they were all set she grabbed hold of James' arm and took a deep breath. Apparition was on the top of her list of things she hated doing.

"Here we go!"

All at once the air was pushed from her body and she felt like her organs were doing the mambo. It lasted for but a moment before their feet landed squarely on the sandy beach of Dobby's Cove, just below the Potter manor. She sucked in a few deep breaths and rubbed her face hard. "I hate that."

"Practice more. It'll get better," he laughed. "Well, not really. You'll just get used to it."

She rolled her eyes and hauled her trunk up beside her, making sure that it was all there. "_Wingardium leviosa_!" The trunk levitated beside her and followed them as they made their way towards the stone stairs that lead up to the cliff that Potter manor was situated on. Harry had jinxed the hell out of it to make sure that very few people could find their way there and the only place one could apparate to was the cove. It was simply brilliant, she thought.

James got to talking about school. He was the eldest Potter and had the ego to go with it. He was a brilliant student but found more joy in getting into trouble than he did getting top scores on his exams. Oh, he did well enough to just squeeze by and meet all the requirements for auror training and keep his position as Gryffindor's Quidditch captain, of course. James Potter was, if anything, a natural born leader. Those titles were his life and everyone expected him to meet them head on with a smile. Which he did. He was the first pride and joy of the Potter family. That certainly didn't help his ego all that much.

They joked and laughed and caught up on the events of summer as they made their way towards the large brick manor atop the cliff.

James opened the front door for her and they went inside together. "No one else is here right now. They all went along to help the Weasley's get everyone over before dinner. You've got the same room upstairs as last time. I'm going to finish cleaning up the kitchen before everyone gets back, so why don't you go make yourself comfortable?"

She nodded and brought her things up to the second floor, down the left hall and to the first bedroom on the left. Nothing had changed since she had been there last. It was still painted the rich dark purple color with the lavender bed set. Even the old bouquet of flowers was still sitting on the dresser. She set her trunk down at the foot of the bed and set down Madison's present on the bed-side table. Downstairs the doors opened and the Potter-Weasley tribe entered.


End file.
